


How Did You Know?

by perfectromanceinmymind



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectromanceinmymind/pseuds/perfectromanceinmymind
Summary: The Twitter account incorrectgleek posted this the other day:sam: how did you know I was gonna propose?mercedes: blaine hasn't been able to look at me without crying all monthand I had to run with it.
Relationships: Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	How Did You Know?

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place now-ish but obviously in a non-COVID world and in a world where Sam didn't go back to Lima. Enjoy. Please let me know what you think!

"Has Blaine seemed weird to you lately?"

Mercedes poses the question to Rachel and Santana at one of their regular Sunday brunches. They're at the diner, even though none of their group works there anymore, it's still their regular place and probably always will be.

Rachel frowns. "I don't think so?" she replies questioningly.

"Weird how?" Santana asks. "That little man has always been a little weird, so I feel like you have to be more specific."

Mercedes shakes her head. "I don't know how to explain it, really. I just feel like, I don't know, like he's been looking at me funny the last couple weeks. I can't even describe the look on his face. But I swear at least once he looked like he was about to cry."

Santana looks grim. "I knew this would eventually happen."

Mercedes stares at her, confusion on her face. "What would eventually happen?"

"Obviously, Blaine and Sam have finally realized that Blam is an actual romance, not a bromance and Blaine knows it's going to break your heart when Sam leaves you for him."

"Thanks, Santana, that's supremely helpful," Mercedes says sarcastically. "Sam is not leaving me. And how many times do I have to tell you? The man is straight. I mean, hello," she adds, gesturing at herself. "I'm pretty sure he likes women."

Santana shrugs. "Bisexuality is a thing. Exhibit A, my hot-ass wife."

Mercedes falters a bit. "Well – come to think of it, Sam's been acting a little weird too…"

"Mercedes, no! Don't listen to her," Rachel cries, glaring at Santana. "Sam loves you, he's not going to leave you for Blaine. And for God's sake, Blaine is MARRIED. He's not going to divorce Kurt."

"But what if he is?" Mercedes asks, getting just a tiny bit hysterical. "It'll be like Grace and Frankie, except that Kurt is actually my friend so I won't mind having to go live with him as much and obviously everyone already knew one of the husbands was gay."

Santana makes a face. "Just please don't start a vibrator company, because the two of you would come up with the lamest sex toys ever."

"Santana," Rachel says sharply. "Not. Helping." She turns back to Mercedes. "Seriously. That man adores you. If anything has been plotted, it's way more likely that Blaine has helped Sam pick out a ring because he's planning to propose to you."

Mercedes opens her mouth and then closes it again. She seems to be concentrating, running the last few weeks through her mind. "Do you really think so?"

Santana huffs out a breath. "Don't you two talk about marriage, like, all the time?"

Mercedes nods. "Yeah, but – I mean, we've talked about it. For almost the whole time we've been together, we've talked about being married one day. So – I guess I just always thought we'd just – decide one day that it was time? I never thought about him actually making a whole thing out of asking."

"You said he's been acting weird too, right?" Rachel asks and Mercedes nods.

"I did catch him staring at you with a particularly dopey expression at Monday night dinner last week," Santana admits. "Like, dopier than usual."

Mercedes nods again. "That's what I mean. And also, I told him that I thought I could get some extra studio time Wednesday and Thursday nights this week and he kind of flipped out about the Thursday, insisting that I had promised I would be home that night."

Rachel squeals, clapping her hands in delight. "That must be when he's planning to do it! Oh, Mercedes, this is so exciting!"

Mercedes can't stop the smile spreading across her face. "It kind of is, isn't it?" she says, before panic crosses her face again. "But Thursday is days from now! How do I get from now till then without letting on that I know?"

Santana shakes her head. "You'll have to figure something out." She points a threatening finger at Rachel. "And don't you dare give it away tomorrow night, Berry."

"Easy for you to say," Mercedes sighs, "you'll only see him at dinner tomorrow. I have to go home to the same apartment and sleep in the same bed with him every night till then."

Santana grins wickedly. "Well, surely you can find something else to distract you in that location."

"Santana!"

Somehow, Mercedes makes it through the next four days, even Monday night dinner, happening at Britt and Santana's this week (they had started rotating homes each week a few years ago as they had all coupled up into smaller apartments). The furtive looks are flying between Sam and Blaine as well as her, Rachel and Santana – Brittany and Jesse seem clueless (or maybe indifferent in Jesse's case) and she can't figure out if Kurt knows anything. But when they all say good night, this time she is one hundred percent certain she sees tears in Blaine's eyes.

Sam's on a shoot on Tuesday and Wednesday – fourteen hours each day - and she's in the studio till late Wednesday night and comes home to find him already asleep in their bed. She stands in the doorway of their bedroom for a minute and suddenly feels almost overwhelmed by the depth of the love she has for him – this sweet, kind man who once held out his hand and asked her to dance and by this time tomorrow night, if what she suspects is happening is actually going to happen, he'll have held out his hand and asked her an even bigger question.

It is wonderful and terrifying and she has no idea how she's going to get through the day tomorrow or be of any use in the studio at all.

When she wakes up Thursday morning, it's to find Sam already awake, lying on his side, just watching her sleep. Somehow, it's not creepy, especially when she thinks about how she did the same thing the night before.

"Morning," he says quietly.

She blinks a few times and smiles. "Hi."

They just look at each other for a minute or two before Mercedes shakes her head. "I need to get to the studio. Especially since I didn't take the extra time tonight."

Sam nods. "Right. So, when will you be home?"

"I'm gonna leave by six, so definitely here by seven," she says as she gets out of bed.

He nods again.

"Did you want to go out somewhere or…" her voice trails off as she tries to read his face.

Sam shakes his head. "No, I'm here all day, so I'll have dinner ready." He smiles at her. "I just – knew this would be one of those weeks and wanted to make sure we made time for each other."

Her heart melts all over again as she smiles back at him and he reaches out for her hand. "I love you," she says softly, as he pulls her back to him for a sweet kiss.

It's pushing 7:15 already before she's walking up their street that night. The studio's in Manhattan, of course, and their little apartment is the basement one in a Park Slope brownstone in Brooklyn and of course, the 2 train was running behind and then of course she gets stuck behind a pack of exhausted tourists walking slowly up the sidewalk, so by the time she's let herself into their building, she's tired and annoyed and has almost forgotten what she thinks Sam has planned, except that she's also managed to convince herself that proposing is not what's going on, even though she can't figure out what would be going on if not a proposal because after this morning she's still pretty sure he's not leaving her for Blaine.

All of this is running through her head as she fights with the locks on their door and all of it is promptly forgotten once she finally gets inside.

It's the strongest sense of déjà vu she's ever felt in her life.

Candles everywhere – although not nearly as many as the last time Sam made a big, giant gesture like this, partly just because this apartment is smaller than that one, a vase of her favorite flowers on their little dining table and she can see a box from Magnolia Bakery on the kitchen counter – yes, it's trendy and touristy, but she can't help it, she's a sucker for their buttercream frosting, and then, there's Sam, standing by the table, anxiously fidgeting with one of his thumbs.

Her Sam, her sweet, wonderful Sam, and he looks so _nervous_. And oh my God, it's really happening and part of her just wants to go ahead and say 'yes' even before he asks the question, but she knows he might never forgive her for that, after he's clearly gone to so much trouble.

"Hi, baby," she says slowly. "What's all this?"

"Mercedes – " his mouth is dry, she can tell by the way he almost chokes out her name, and then he swallows and tries again, coming over to stand in front of her, taking her hands in his. "Mercedes – fact," he says and she almost laughs at the word and the delivery of it but manages not to but it somehow seems to relax him anyway, the smile on her face, and he smiles back at her and repeats himself, "Fact. You're – you're amazing. You're smart and sexy and sassy and confident and so damn talented and I have been in love with you since I was sixteen years old and sometimes I still can't believe that you actually love me back and I know we've talked about it a million times, but – " here he drops her hands and takes a small step back, reaching into his pocket for the little jewelry box, which is when Mercedes realized she was crying, one hand going to cover her mouth as he kneels in front of her and takes a deep breath "- but I'm hoping we can finally make it official. Mercedes – will you marry me?"

He opens up the box as he asks the question and the ring is beautiful and perfect and all she can do is nod her head 'yes' as the tears run down her face and then somehow she realizes he's waiting for her to actually SAY the word and she manages to get out "yes, yes of course" and then she's leaning down to kiss him (which is definitely different for them) and he's putting the ring on her finger and she's so happy she feels like she could just explode.

And then he's standing back up, pulling her close to him, kissing her fiercely, both of them whispering "I love you" before breaking apart, Mercedes holding her hand out in front of her, admiring how the ring looked on her finger.

"You like it?" he asks.

"It's perfect," she says softly, smiling at him. "I love it. I love you."

"I love you, too," he replies. "I'll confess though – Blaine helped me pick it out."

"I kind of thought so."

Sam grins. "Well, I helped him pick out Kurt's way back in the day, so I guess it's full circle or something."

"I should probably confess something too," Mercedes says in response. "I, um, kind of guessed that this might happen tonight."

Sam looks surprised. "Really? How?"

She laughs. "Because Blaine has been on the verge of tears every time he's looked at me lately. Rach and Santana and I talked about it at brunch on Sunday and decided either you were proposing or you and Blaine were leaving me and Kurt to run off together." She grins at him. "Guess which one came up with which theory?"

Sam laughs. "Oh, Santana. Remind me to tell her that you're not only the only woman for me, you're the only person for me."

Mercedes holds up her left hand. "Forever."

Sam reaches for her hand, intertwining their fingers. "Damn right. Forever."


End file.
